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24A

October 18 • 2007

AN

$75 million. The federation system,
Birthright sources say, has contributed
about $43 million. Additional funding
comes from other sources, including
the Jewish Agency for Israel.
Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson has
pledged $60 million over the next two
years to pay for the tens of thousands
of Jews on the waiting list. Yet with the
program receiving 2,000 applicants
a day and typically having to close
registration only a few weeks after it
opens, Birthright officials say more
money will probably be needed.
Each trip to Israel costs about
$2,000, according to Birthright's direc-
tor of international marketing, Gideon
Mark. The federations' contribution
per trip in 2007 will be approximately
$175, according to Jay Golan, the exec-
utive director of the Birthright Israel
Foundation, which oversees private
funding for the program.
Adding to the frustration of
Birthright supporters is that most
federations use the travel program in
their fundraising pitches.
Sources familiar with the situation
say the UJC is having trouble convinc-
ing federations to contribute more
money.
Using a pre-existing formula
employed for other shared costs, the
UJC suggests to each individual fed-
eration how much it should contribute
to Birthright. Levine, whose division
oversees the UJC's Birthright opera-
tion, described the suggested num-
ber as the product of a "push-pull"
between the UJC and the federations
in which they arrive at a figure togeth-
er. Still, except for one year, federations
have fallen short. In 2006, for example,
federations donated 84 percent of the
suggested total.
For 2007, the UJC requested $9 mil-
lion from the federations, an increase
of 50 percent from last year; so far it
has collected $5.5 million.
Levine noted that in addition to
these funds, the UJC provides the
Jewish Agency for Israel with its core
budget; in turn, from that amount, the
Jewish Agency gives about $5 million
per year to Birthright.
As part of an initiative dubbed
"Building the Birthright Israel Brand"
or B-3, the Andrea and Charles
Bronfman Philanthropies has allo-
cated grants between $75,000 and
$125,000 to local federations to hire
development professionals to market
Birthright and raise money for the
program.
Though the B-3 hires are employees
of the federations for which they work,

Bronfman's foundation will keep close
tabs on them, set benchmarks and offer
periodic training seminars. The goal
is to secure five- and six-figure gifts
from a market that is largely untapped,
according to Jason Soloway, the founda-
tion's director of special projects.
Two federations in New Jersey, three
in California and the Combined Jewish
Philanthropies of Greater Boston have
signed onto the program.
The Jewish Federation of Greater
Los Angeles has used grants from
Bronfman's foundation to hire two
part-time fundraisers to solicit finan-
cial support for Birthright. Its annual
contribution to the program — set in
conjunction with UJC — has jumped
from $90,000 in 2000 to $550,000 this
year.
Still, even with the increases, the
Los Angeles federation is paying only
about $458 for each of the 1,200 annu-
al Birthright participants from its area.
John Fishel, president of the Los
Angeles federation, said local com-
munities could find ways to fund both
their poverty-fighting programs and
Birthright. "We feel a commitment to
take care of the needy in our commu-
nity;' he said, "but that doesn't negate
supporting Birthright and a range of
other Israel experiences."
In addition to the funding for indi-
vidual federations, Bronfman's foun-
dation also has allocated $100,000
to the UJC for the next two years to
hire a Birthright development profes-
sional and has provided grants to the
Birthright Israel Foundation to hire
one professional to cover New York
and the southern United States.
In the first year, Bronfman's founda-
tion would like to see a 2-to-1 return
on its investment. Then it would
like to see fundraising for Birthright
ramped up at the participating federa-
tions, according to Soloway.
"The original idea behind Birthright
is that this would be a three-way part-
nership between the philanthropists,
the State of Israel and the federation
system with the Jewish Agency:' he
said. "The philanthropists have done
a remarkable job. The government
has done a remarkable job — though
it did have one off year — and the
federation has done a decent job, but
it hasn't met the expectations of the
original partnership. This is about
helping the federation system increase
its participation in Birthright Israel."
"We're trying to do just that;' a UJC
spokesman said. "We are."